Effect of wind farms on wintering ducks at an important wintering ground in China along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway

Abstract

Wind farms offer a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels and can mitigate their negative effects on climate change. However, wind farms may have negative impacts on birds. The East China Coast forms a key part of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, and it is a crucial region for wind energy development in China. However, despite ducks being the dominant animal taxon along the East China Coast in winter and considered as particularly vulnerable to the effects of wind farms, the potential negative impacts of wind farms on duck populations remain unclear. We therefore assessed the effects of wind farms on duck abundance, distribution, and habitat use at Chongming Dongtan, which is a major wintering site for ducks along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, using field surveys and satellite tracking. We conducted seven paired field surveys of ducks inside wind farm (IWF) and outside wind farm (OWF) sites in artificial brackish marsh, paddy fields, and aquaculture ponds. Duck abundance was significantly higher in OWF compared with IWF sites and significantly higher in artificial brackish marsh than in aquaculture ponds and paddy fields. Based on 1,918 high‐resolution satellite tracking records, the main habitat types of ducks during the day and at night were artificial brackish marsh and paddy fields, respectively. Furthermore, grid‐based analysis showed overlaps between ducks and wind farms, with greater overlap at night than during the day. According to resource selection functions, habitat use by wintering ducks was impacted by distance to water, land cover, human activity, and wind farm effects, and the variables predicted to have significant impacts on duck habitat use differed between day and night. Our study suggests that wintering ducks tend to avoid wind turbines at Chongming Dongtan, and landscape of paddy fields and artificial wetlands adjoining natural wetlands is crucial for wintering ducks.

Risk evaluation of onshore wind farms in relation to wild duck (Anatidae) movements in the Yangtze River Mouth, China

“…Bird movements are driven by food resources and habitats, which are also influenced by anthropogenic facilities (e.g. wind farms) [17, 53]. The current results showed that distance between ducks’ geographic locations and the nearest wind turbines in the middle and later wintering periods tended to increase significantly (Figure 3), suggesting dynamic avoidance by ducks to decrease overlap with onshore wind farms.…”

“…During December 2019 and January 2020, we conducted six field surveys of flight‐height observations at four fixed observation sites during dawn (04:00–06:00) and dusk (17:30–19:30) on sunny days, without strong wind or heavy fog. The average distance between adjacent wind turbines in the Yangtze River Mouth, China, was 500 m [17], and we therefore selected fixed observation sites between adjacent wind turbines. We defined the wind farm status on both sides of the fixed observation points as turned on or off.…”

“…Many bird species migrate, and Chongming Dongtan provides a wintering ground for migratory ducks along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway [17], with ducks overwintering in this region from December to the following March [17,38]. Based on previous studies on the East China coast [3,17], ducks conducted local distance flights across the dyke around wind farms during dawn and dusk, between roosting and foraging sites (Figure 2a).…”

“…The specific flight behaviours of birds (especially flight height) are key factors affecting their risks of collision with these structures [30,23]. Ducks comprise the dominant animal taxon on the East China coast in winter [17]. They are considered to be good environ-mental indicators, and form the primary focus of EIAs during risk evaluations for wind farms [25].…”

“…They are considered to be good environ-mental indicators, and form the primary focus of EIAs during risk evaluations for wind farms [25]. Although mortality rates of ducks are minimal throughout the world [14,23], they inhabit shallow, subtidal coastal regions and carry out local movements between foraging sites (inland artificial wetlands) and roosting sites (the intertidal zone) [32,33], which may overlap with onshore wind farms in coastal wetlands [17]. One study using direct observations in offshore areas showed that ducks had reduced the number of landings and flights in proximity to wind turbines [34].…”